Messages and documents are increasingly being generated in multiple languages. These type of messages are frequently processed via message handling systems that are connected to an enterprise application or other systems operating in a client/server architecture (in which the client performs the application processing functions and the server system performs the data management functions). In particular, message handling systems are often used as part of resource management systems, customer relationship management systems, human resource management systems, supply chain management systems, and financial management systems.
Messaging applications receive asynchronous messages from an originating enterprise application for delivery to a receiving enterprise application. Such messages are stored by the receiving enterprise application in a single database table and may contain portions that are in multiple languages (e.g., English, Russian, Chinese, etc.) (or a single database table may store single language messages that are in a wide variety of languages). This type of database table is known as a multi-display, multi-processing (MDMP) database table.
With conventional MDMP database tables, messages are stored without a language key (explicit or implicit) that can identify the language of the message. When an enterprise application server receives a message, a codepage is selected to convert the message into a default language that corresponds to the login language of the user (e.g., if the server is using a German language Linux operating system, then the message would be converted into German). However, if the received message is in more than one language, the language of the message will not be properly converted as conventional enterprise applications only use a single codepage to convert message languages. Therefore, only those portions of the message that pertain to the same base language as the codepage will be properly converted (i.e., if the codepage has a baseline for converting English messages, and a received message is in English and in Korean, those. portions in Korean will not be properly converted). Remedying these conversion errors requires redundant conversion programs which require extra processing time while consuming additional processing resources.
Moreover, on the messaging application side, as there are no language keys associated with a message, messages are converted (into a language such as Unicode) using a single codepage based on the premise that all of the received message is in the login language of the user. Only those portions of the received message that are in the login language are properly converted. Characters that are common between the login language and the messaging application codepage may be improperly translated and other characters that do no correspond will be assigned a substitution character. Such an arrangement will result in portions of the material description being unreadable by intended recipients (e.g., enterprise applications, users, etc.).
Accordingly, it will be appreciated there remains an improved technique for processing and/or generating messages that are either wholly or partially in multiple languages.